Bean and Stick Divination in the Moche Culture of Pre-Incan Peru

by Theresa | Jun 5, 2023 | About Divination, Goddess, More on My Books, Recent Posts

It’s fascinating to observe the multitude of ways humans have found to carry out divination and oracle through the ages. In every culture we find a variety of ways that  people devise to interact with the unseen and spiritual dimensions, to read signs and try to...

The Moon Priestesses of San José de Moro, Peru

by Theresa | Mar 2, 2023 | About Divination, Goddess, More on My Books, Recent Posts

300 years after the Moche Mama’s rule, in a temple complex to the north and east, in San José de Moro, we find 8 burials of women, 5 from the late Moche culture (720 CE) and 3 from the “Transitional Period” (850-1000 CE) all receiving the label: priestess. In this...

Deverra: The Italian Sweeper Fairy—Polydaimonism in Ancient Italy

by Theresa | Jan 12, 2023 | About Divination, Recent Posts, Strega and Italian-Americana

“You need a sweep!” Was one of the common pronouncements on my way to becoming a  stick diviner. This meant one needed to have “dirt,” both psychic and physical, cleaned off of them. There were all kinds of “brooms,” one made of fern, one made of feathers, one made of...

Honoring the Passing of Elder Malidoma Somé

by Theresa | Dec 9, 2021 | About Divination

I wish to honor and thank Elder Malidoma Somé, the man who brought stick divination to the west and shared the wisdom of the cosmology of the Dagara people of West Africa. Elder Malidoma passed away today December 9, 2021. He was born in 1956.  Though I never met him,...

Who are the Elemental Beings?

by Theresa | Sep 6, 2019 | About Divination

In the West African tradition I am initiated into, the elemental beings are called the  kontomble, (the little people or, more literally, the one who comes to the bell). In the Italian tradition they are called le fate. Essentially, these elemental beings are the same...

Why Ancestor Work is Important

by Theresa | Jun 1, 2019 | About Divination

The ancestors are a major part of divination and many other kinds of spiritual work. This can be perplexing for some who have no relationship to their ancestors and downright disturbing for those who feel they do not like their ancestors. The way I like to look at it...